Raven Origins Birthright Chapters 0 thru 5, of 13
by BioFlux
Summary: Earth is forever changed when 4 young members of the United States military are brought into a special project.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

The air was hot the whole ride through the Nevada Desert for Corporal Mathison and his companions. They had never met each other, and had little knowledge of what was about to happen to them. On their way to Area 51 to participate in a "Field Exercise" of some newly designed weapons system that was supposed to mimic a tank.

Cpl. Mathison looked at the people around him, his partners in this blind venture. A big burly black man that looked like he could crush an elephant with his hands sat in silence, staring out the back, was apparently oblivious to his gaze. Next to him a scrawny, out of place white kid with glasses thick as the desert is long. Sitting beside him was a female of some Asian descent, clearly uninterested in anything, as she was leaning her head back trying to make up for last nights lack of sleep.

As the truck roared down the barren desert road, Mathison started to think back to his briefing less than 6 hours ago. He silently wondered why exactly a tank commander would be called into a base that seemed to be primarily under the control of the Air Force. Even more curious was the gag order that was placed on him. He couldn't phone and friends, or family, not that he had any outside the military, and was immediately quarrantined just for good measure.

_Politics. _He thought to himself. This would most likely be some new destructive invention that would fail horribly because the design engineers that came up with this crap had spent zero time in a battlezone. This thought caused him to chuckle aloud, as he now realized exactly why he was being called into this little charade. _The engineers want a veteran of combat to tell them their new toy will work in the field... and they want to have someone to blame if things don't work out._

The scrawny kid sitting adjacent to the Corporal noticed him chuckling, and was apparently not shy when it came to talking to people he didn't know. "What's so funny, sir?"

Mathison shook himself out of his thoughts. "I'm just thinking about the end of my carrer."

The kid sat there in silence for a second before responding. "I don't follow, sir."

Mathison waved his hand nonchalantly, "None of this 'sir' shit. Just call me Joe. If you really need to know, my career will most likely end in Area 51 after the geeks realized whatever they built isn't going to work in the field, and I get blamed for giving it a passing grade."

The kid started to say something, but was cut short by the deep, imposing sound of the black man's voice. "Well, Joe, you're pretty optimistic I'd say. You also seem to know more about whatever is going on here than I do. I'd appreciate knowing why I was hauled out of my bunk at oh six hundred this morning and put on this rig."

Mathison gave the black man another once over, and then responded as if he hadn't heard the question. "Name and rank, soldier."

The black man stiffened up and gave the response that was more natural to him than pronouncing his full name. "Gunnery Seargant Michael Smith, 5th Batallion Marine Corps, Armored Division."

Mathison nodded slowly. _Another tank jock. That's a bit strange. Must want a second opinion. _He turned towards the white kid, but stopped and turned back to Smith. "Smith? That's a bit of an odd last name for a black guy."

Smith responded completely deadpan. "My birthname is Jackson. I had it legally changed before I enlisted. I'm sure the Corporal can understand the reasoning behind it."

From the left came a bellowing laughter that caught everyone by surprise. "Yeah, Micheal Jackson. Too bad you look like you're as graceful as a fucking nuke. Your parents must have hated you. Were you a mistake, or were they hoping for something with tits?"

Mathison was caught slightly offguard by it, and Smith simply shrugged it off. "Don't really know what my parents wanted, they died when I was six. Pretty sure yours intended you to be a squid though, the way you shoot your mouth off."

The woman laughed again. "Nah, not Navy matieral, though it would have been nice. It's far easier to get laid on a ship when you're the only thing that's able to bend over and spread your legs." She stopped for a second, appeared to be thinking, then sighedand sank in her seat. "Nevermind. They'd probably enjoy cornholing their bunkmates too much to notice I was around."

Mathison was dying on the inside, this chick was nuts, and amusing at the same time. A good combination, as long as they weren't in the same tank as you. "Name and rank?"

She leaned her head back and lazily responded. "Senior Airman Samantha Ruthers. Test Pilot for the Air Force."

_Well, that explains why she's nuts. _Again, Mathison nodded, and turned his attention to the scrawny kid, who was literally as white as a sheet at this point. Apparently he hadn't run into many GI Jane's. Mathison gestured towards him, as if to repeat his statement. The kid took a second, but got the point. "Specialist Henry Wallace. Army Corps of Engineering."

Mathison nodded, again, before introducing himself. "Corporal Joseph Mathison, Tank Commander for the First Armored Battalion, Army." He looked back towards Smith before continuing. "The truth of the matter is I don't know much more than you do. I was schedualed for leave for the next three months, but it was cancelled about 12 hours ago, I was given a very short briefing that consisted of little more than 'you're doing this' and 'don't talk to anyone.' " Mathison looked outside and saw the base creeping up in the distance. "I get the feeling we're going to find out shortly just what it is we're all here for though.

The truck pulled up to the gate and the driver could be heard talking to the guards at the entrance. He distinctly heard the words "Project MT204" and past that, not much else. After a few minutes of sitting there, the truck was motioned in. Out the back you could see some of the soldiers on the base rushing to get a look at the new arrivals. Apparently whatever they were here for, everyone on the base knew about it, and was eager to see just who it was the brass brought in for it. The truck drove into a hanger, and a tall, skinny man walked up to the back of the truck. He looked over the four briefly before introducing himself. "Ladies, I am Brigadier General Jack Harris. Welcome to Area 51."

All four saluted him in reflex, and started piling out of the truck. They were in a very lage, very empty hangar. Little more than a flag was on the wall, and all of the doors to the hanger were being shut, most likely from the command center on the base. As the four were looking around, the General decided they'd seen enough. "All four of you, follow me."

He motioned for them to follow, and they all walked directly to the center of the hangar, and stood, waiting. The General looked as if he was waiting for something, so Mathison spoke up. "Sir, we'd all appreciate knowing exactly what's going on here."

The General just smiled, and motioned towards a camera. "Watch your step."

As he said this, the unmistakable sound of hydraulics started, and the floor began to seperate, and then lower. The walls began to move up and the five lowered into the depths of the base. Artificial lighting took over the ambiance. The elevator took what seemed like 10 minutes to lower, and effectively stop. The General spoke quickly. "You four have been selected to participate in a joint military operation that will, ideally, thrust the United States Armed Forces back into total superiority when it comes to ground skirmishes. You have all been selected because you were at the top of your grade in your respective areas. What you are about to see is classified at such a high level that even the president would have a hard time getting clearance down here." Harris paused briefly before continuing. "Is that clear?"

Mathison took the liberty of responding for the group. "Yes sir, crystal."

Haris nodded and spoke into a radio he apparently was concealing in his coat pocket. "Raise the blast doors."

Shortly after he spoke, the walls started rising again, and light escaped from underneath. As the blast doors fully rose up, the group was staring out over a wide underground cavern that was suprisingly well lit and ventilated. What caught everyone's attention were the four very large metal structures on the far side, that looked similar to science fiction robots of war.

As the blast doors came to a halt, Haris spoke again. "Ladies and Gentlemen, what you are looking at are the four prototypes of a new type of tank, called a Massive Tank, or MT for short. All four of them are intended to work as a unit, to unleash total dominance of any battlefield. Please follow me."

Haris began walking towards the machines, with the foursome in very quick tow. "This project has existed since the late eighties. Fourty years from conception to actualization. All four branches of the military have had their hand in the design of the MT's. Each one is specifically designed to preform a specific squadron function, from recon, to long range firepower."

As the group got closer, they began to realize the size of these machines. The smallest one stood at least 40 feet high. Mathison began to give the MT's a once over, noticing one of them was covered in what looked to be solar panels, and a wide array of antenna's, while another was more aerodynamic, and yet another looked like it could get hit by an entire payload of bombs and walk out without a scratch.

Haris continued, as the group stopped in front of the machines. "Specialist Wallace. You place at the top of your class in radar dynamics, field engineering, electronic signal analyzation, rangefinding, and electronic countermeasures, as well as being one hell of a field mechanic." Haris pointed to the machine loaded down with antennae. "You will be test piloting the MT Cloak. Your role in the upcoming exercises will be total battlefield analysis and responsiveness. Your information will be what your command officer bases his decisions on."

Haris pointed towards the sleek and aerodynamic MT. "Airman Ruthers. You are the Air Forces finest test pilot. Able to withstand GForce that is impossible for any other human being to withstand. Your lightning reflexes and ability to pilot will put you in the cockpit of the MT Zephyr. With a top speed of 175 kilometers per hour, unique radar canceling skin, and a never before seen fusion lift generation system that will allow you to `jump` and sustain lift for over 10 seconds before being forced to land, you will be the forward eyes of your unit.

The general smiled before moving onto the third MT, which looked incredibly vicious when compared to the other three units. "Now we come to my personal favorite. Gunnery Seargant Smith has logged more time in a tank than the entire second armored battalion pilots combined. He can shoot a fly off of the head of a kid with ADHD at a range of 2 miles with a 100mm depleted uranium shell. You will be piloting the MT Desolation. This unit is designed for total erradication of the enemy. You will have several weapons available at your disposal including a 275mm howitzer, Hellfire rocket clusters, and a newly designed railgun." Haris turned back towards the group and smiled wickedly. "I am very, very jealous of you, Smith."

Smith just stood there taking it in, and didn't really appear to hear what the General had said. Haris, not wasting any time, looked towards the fourth and final unit. "Corporal Mathison. You have successfully led armored units in the neutralization of the Neo-Soviet incursion into China, and more recently, the third germanic incursion into remaining European settlements. The fact you survived is impressive. The fact that you never lost a single soldier is why you're here. Your abilities in a tank are miniscule compared to your ability to command a battle to victory. You will be piloting the combat balanced MT Dominion. The unit is designed to be a balance between speed and power. You will be the Commanding Officer in this squad. You also report to one person, and one person alone. Me."

Mathison reflexively saluted. "Sir."

Haris turned back to his subordinates. "Get familiar with your MT's and your squadmates. You`re going to be working with them closely for the next six months. Assuming you all do well, you'll be together for a lot longer than that."

The general turned and walked off, leaving the group that would eventually be referred to by the rest of the world as "The Horsemen" to get familiar with the machines that would come to change the world, in a way that many never could have forseen.


	2. Chapter 01 of 13 Veni Vidi Vici

**Chapter 1 - Veni Vidi Vici**

"Lancer, you are green. Engage and eliminate all hostiles." the voice called over Corporal Mathison's comm. Mathison was busy surveying his surroundings, but still let an almost dronelike response escape his lips. "Roger Command."

Mathison let out a sigh as he looked out over the crest of the mountains towards the Iranian compound that was about to be washed off of the planets surface. He couldn't help but think that something was very wrong with what he was about to do. "Omni, can you get a reading on whether or not there are, in fact, nuclear materials inside that compound?"

"Stand by sir." Omni responded. Mathison continued to look out over the Iranian Desert. The sun was going to be rising soon, and would give away their position, not that it really mattered. Nothing short of a full battalion of tanks would be able to take down the MT's, should they be discovered prematurely. His thoughts drifted to the recent missions he'd been on. These MT's had been responsible for the `unification` of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, as well as some of the northern countries in South America being unified into the American Empire. Great Britain had struck a deal with the American Empire, and the MT's had been deployed in Europe to help England resolidify it's former Imperial past. China had paid the United States a great source of money to integrate North and South Korea, Japan, Nepal, and India into a singular territory as well.

_This isn't what I signed up for. I'm not going to subvert the world for the powermongers. _Mathison was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of his com clicking on. "Lancer, Omni. I'm reading zero nuclear technology from the compound. Additionally, I'm reading no defenses that amount to anything better than armed guards. Repeat, threat factor is zero." Mathison punched the dash of his MT. "Copy threat factor zero. Stand by for further orders, Lancer out."

_This is bullshit and they know it. Who the fuck is buying their empire this time? Turkey? Libya? No... Israel is more likely the answer. _Mathison decided to call it in, just for good measure. "Command, Lancer. Omni is reading zero nuclear assets in the base. Threat factor is zero. Please advise."

Static rode the com momentarily before the response came. "Lancer, Command. Intelligence has given us solid data. Omni's sensors may not be able to pick it up given that it's underground. Continue with the mission, as soon as area superiority has been established, vacate the area. The third Ranger division is standing by for cleanup." Mathison cut off the com without responding. _It doesn't even matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore. We're unifying the world through force for ourselves, our allies, and whoever is willing to pay us. Working for the highest bidder isn't necessarily a bad thing, but having ties with people prevents neutrality._

"All units, move in, level the compound." Mathison spoke out. He brought his systems from passive to active and prepared to move in. Halfway through the activation, he looked out to his left, and saw the unmistakable shilloutte of Psycho's MT speeding towards the compound. He silently counted to himself. _3...2...1... _"BURN BABY BURN" Psycho's voice bellowed over the com. She always got twitchy while waiting for the green light on any engagement.

To his right, he saw Thrillers MT taking up a firing position and adjusting his favorite weapon into place. After it was, the unmistakeable sound of the 275mm Howitzer unloading shell after shell into the air. Lancer looked back towards the compound, grimacing and hoping for a miracle that would allow those people to survive. The compound lit up as the Howitzer shells found their mark, shattering entire wings upon impact. Psycho was busy taking out the more isolated sections of the compound with a hail of machinegun fire.

Lancer and Omni didn't move. Omni had limited fighting capability, and Lancer couldn't bring himself to commit wonton acts of murder. More than half of the compound had been leveled, and Psycho hadn't met any resistance at all, not even small arms fire from armed guards. "Lancer, Omni." the comm called out.

"Lancer here, go ahead." He knew what was about to be said, and he completely agreed with it. Wallace shared his disdain for rampant destruction, and the two had talked privately about what the MT's were being used for. "There's a wide signal radio transmission going out from the compound. They're asking to speak with the leader of the `Four Horsemen`. What should I do, commander?"

"Patch it through." The com clicked off and Mathison sat back. _Guess he'll chew me out about it later when we're away from prying ears. _The comm clicked on and the sounds of explosions and screaming could be heard coming through in the transmission, as well as a very panicked Persian. His English was hard to understand, given the fear in his voice, but it wasn't impossible to make out. "...nder of the Horsemen, please disengage. We are a peaceful settlement of refugees that fled from the tyranny of the Iranian government. We have no weapons, we have seven thousand people here, women and children alike. Again, please disengage, we are no threat to anyone!" The man sounded almost as if he were in tears. _That's it, I can't fucking take this anymore. Leveling military targets is one thing, but I'm not going to wipe out civilians on this murderous crusade._

Mathison gave the recall order. "7th Armor, target is neutralized, disengage and rendezvous at the fallback coordinates." He looked over and saw Thriller disengage and lower his weapons. Back towards the compound however, Psycho was simply standing still. "Lancer this is Psycho. Target has not been leveled to mission spec. I am continuing my mission."

"Psycho, move to the extraction point IMMEDIATELY. Disengage." He was fuming now. Psycho was getting harder and harder to control. Her bloodlust on the battlefield couldn't be matched by anyone he'd ever known in his life, and suspected that people like Hitler and Stalin would be proud of her for the absolute carnage she wrought. Lancer reactivated his com on a broadcast to the entire squad, just to make sure she heard it. "Omni, standby to take control of Psycho's MT in case of noncompliance."

That seemed to get her attention. She disengaged and moved towards the extraction point. Lancer knew he was going to get his ass chewed into hamburger meat for not completely devastating the compound, but the Rangers wouldn't exactly have a problem doing that anyway, given the nature of the people inside. The four moved to the extraction airfield where the four heavily modified C-130 cargo planes were waiting, and a fifth, smaller troop transport was waiting. Mathison mentally prepared himself for the firestorm that he was about to catch from both Psycho and General Haris.

***

"Lancer, your mission was to completely devastate the enemy compound, not just 75% of it. Why did you retreat early?" Mathison shifted in his chair and thought about it momentarily. His squad wasn't present for this debriefing, as it seems the General wanted to guage his response before chewing him out in front of his team. The easiest way to appease any commanding officer was to talk about cost. "Sir, during the course of the mission, there was zero retailiation from the base. Not even small arms fire. My thought on the matter is that it seemed foolish to waste high cost resources and ammunition when the base was nearly devastated and there was a battallion of rangers on standby. I merely analyzed the situation and found it would save money and ammo if we pulled out then, instead of wasting rounds needlessly."

The General nodded as if he accepted the statement. "You'll make a good General one day, Mathison. Saving money where we can will aid us in the future, especially when it comes to advancing the plans we're currently putting together." Mathison nodded solemnly. _Yeah... just what we need. _ "Did the Rangers come under any fire upon siezing the compound?"

The General waved his hand. "There were no casualties, the Rangers did their job." He paused momentarily. "We are adding MT's to your command. Given the state of the world, we're stepping up operations. We have decided that we are going to promote from within your squad. Do you have any suggestions as to who it will be?"

Mathison feigned deep thought, but he already knew the answer. He wanted the General to get the impression that he was considering each member's strengths and weaknesses before giving his answer. After sitting there for five minutes or so, he gave his response. "Psycho is out of the question. She has a very hard time following orders, and if she is left to her own devices, she will deviate from mission parameters. Thriller is a highly competent soldier. Follows orders to the letter, however, I don't see him being able to think on his feet if the situation calls for it. Omni seems the only logical choice. He is capable, competent, and has proven in the past that he can take initiative to prevent losses."

Haris nodded an affirmation. "So, Omni and Thriller would be the two you would consider for command positions then, given the choice then, correct?" Mathison stopped dead in his tracks. _Two? How many MT's did they actually build? _"Sir, with due respect, I wouldn't put Thriller in command of the second. I believe Omni is the only choice."

On hearing this, Haris chuckled quietly. "Let me fill you in on the changes about to happen around here."

******

Smith, Ruthers, and Wallace were all waiting outside in the ready room waiting to be called in for the debriefing. The three were all fairly quiet. But Psycho was apparently restless. "I hate waiting around! I want to get this shit over with so I can go get some sleep. God this is so boring."

Omni was apparently not pleased with how his colluege was acting. "Would you shut the fuck up for 10 minutes? Jesus christ, you're intolerable."

Thriller just sat in silence, deep in thought.

Ruthers snorted. "You can't take over my MT when we're not inside it you shithead." She scoffed at the actions of the recent mission. "Would you have stopped me? I mean, I was just following the command briefing. I wasn't doing anything wrong. Would you have prevented me from completing my mission?"

Omni let out a very long, very tired sigh. "Mission Intel was wrong. There were no weapons. There were no nukes. We were just contract killers, nothing more. I'm going to follow the Corporals orders above all others. I know the man at least has a sense of moral obligation."

Samantha laughed. "Moral Obligation? War is fucking war. People live, people die. Empires rise, empires wane. That's the human cycle. You think these MT's are going to be top dog forever? All it's going to take is someone else building a bigger MT before we're all screwed and this whole thing means nothing."

Thriller apparently decided this was the time to interject. "So when did you lose your soul you fucking slant? Was it when daddy sold you to one of his buddies for a night of personal gratification to pay off a gambling debt? Normal people are supposed to feel like shit when the blood of innocents gets spilled. Just because people are on the wrong end of the gun doesn't mean they don't have familes and friends that are going to mourn their loss."

Psycho simply shrugged. "Better them then me, that's why it's called the `wrong end`."

Omni changed the subject abruptly. "I overheard one of the deck techs talking a few minutes ago. Apparently they're moving some large cargo into the holding area. What do you think? Upgrades?"

Psycho was apparently excited now. "Oh shit! Really?! Fuck yes that's awesome! Maybe I get some more guns... or maybe I get another fusion booster... or or or... "

Omni stopped her mid-sentance. "Don't get your hopes up. They're not bringing in upgrades, I just wanted to fuck with you. They wouldn't waste money making the MT's better when they're already unstoppable, at least for now. It's more likely some sort of support unit. Maybe a second unit of MT's, who really knows."

Just then, they got the signal to move into the briefing room. Samantha quickly rushed into the room, eager to find out what the new cargo was. Michael and Willam stood slowly, and as they were walking in, Michael whispered. "I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. I can't sleep at night, too many nightmares." William nodded slowly, and put his hand on the shoulder of his companion. "I know."

*******

Omni, Psycho, and Thriller all walked into the office and took their seats at the large ovular table. Haris gave them all a once over before going through with the debriefing. "The Iranian Weapons compound was successfully neutralized with yet another zero loss factor. The Ranger Battalion that went in recovered weapons and technology that was aiding the current leader of Iran. Intelligence suggests that the Iranians were preparing for a nuclear launch that would have subverted the entire Middle East. It is likely that we will be making preperations to invade Iran, as well as Iranian loyalist countries, in the near future and turn over control of them to our allies in Israel to keep them in line."

Mathison guaged the responses of his team. Psycho looked completely uninterested, she was flipping a pencil around not paying attention to what he was saying. Omni looked more and more dismayed by the mention of the preparations to invade the Middle East in full force. To Mathisons surprise, Thriller looked like he was as tense as he'd even been. He silently wondered what was on the man's mind. _I really need to talk to him as soon as this briefing is over with. _

The General continued, unabated. "With this mission completed, we have been allocated additional funds from the defense department. Not only that, we're going through a massive change in command structure."

The Horsemen were all focused on the General now, as this probably affected them all in a pretty severe way. "The President recognizes that MT's are the new way of war, and has commissioned the creation of a new branch of the military that will stress the usage of MT's. The new branch is going to be called HAWC, or Heavy Armor and Weapons Contingant. A new ranking structure has also been created, specifically for HAWC. Given that I've been overseeing the project for the last 10 years, I am being promoted from Brigadier General to HAWC Admiral, the highest rank inside the new branch."

Haris paused, obviously waiting for words of praise. Mathison took the initiative. "Congratulations, sir." Haris smiled. "Thank you. Lancer, you will no longer be a Corporal for the United States Army. You will now be a Battalion Commander. This will be our highest field command rank." Mathis continued without waiting for anyone to say anything. "Gunnery Seargant Haris. You will be taking command of the third comissioned MT unit. Your new rank is Lance Commander. You will report to both BC Mathison, and myself. Specialist Omni, you will be taking command of the second commissioned MT unit. You will also have the rank Lance Commander and will report to Mathison and myself."

Mathison wasn't paying attention, as he was busy guaging the responses from his former teammates. Thriller had a look about him that was one of surprise. He wasn't sure if it was a good surprise or a bad one, but it was surprise nonetheless. Omni however, looked as if someone had just shot his dog. Psycho was looking very, very eager. She was probably coming to the realization that she was going to get her own squadron as well.

"Unfortunately" the Admiral continued "We don't have the funds to commission a fourth MT unit. So that's going to have to do it for the command positions." Psycho sank in her chair, obviously dissappointed. "Psycho, your rank will be changed to Senior Pilot in the new structure. There are 30 recruits downstairs that are here to fill in the 8 open spots between the three squads. You have a week's leave while we sort out the rookies. Talk to the base logistics officer to sort out where you want to go for your leave. You are dismissed."

Ruthers stood up and gathered her things. "I guess there's some white light here after all. See you suckers later, I'm off to find me a sexy cabana boy." She turned and left the room almost bouncing on her way out.

Haris turned back towards the remaining three. "We have work to do, meet down in the hanger in 30 minutes. Dismissed."

The Admiral quickly left the room, leaving the remaining to their own devices. Mathison turned to congratulate his two friends. "Congratulations on your promotions. You both deserve it."

Thriller shot a look of disgust over towards Mathison. "I don't want this. I don't want to be responsible for ordering the death of innocents." Mathison stared back. _I guess that answers the question on whether it was good or bad._

Omni seemed to mirror the feelings, nodding slowly. Mathison took his time responding. "Put on a show for the brass for now. I'll take care of things." He let out a long sigh. "See you on the deck in 30 minutes." With that he stood and left the room, furious with himself.

******

Mathis, Omni, and Lancer were all standing on the deck, at ease, waiting for the rookies to be shuffled into the corridor. They could hear the elevator from the hanger being lowered, so they knew it was only a matter of time. Looking out over the deck, the three saw the eight brand new MT's, as well as the four they'd been using for the last two years that were going to make up the HAWC battalion. Omni broke the silence as they were looking over the machines. "They're identical to the ones we're using. They haven't been upgraded at all, not that there's a need to upgrade the tool that dominates the world." Mathison nodded in agreement with the statement.

The blast door to the elevator rose, and the nuggets started to shuffle in towards the three commanders, led by Admiral Haris. They could hear him giving them a very brief description of what was going on. Most of the nuggets were looking around, completely dumbstuck by what they were seeing. A bit of nostalgia flowed over Mathison, remembering the walk he and his people took their first day on the base.

Haris stopped the group short of the Commanders. "Let me introduce Battalion Commander Mathison. He will be taking over from here." The rookies all saluted in unison. Mathison let them stand there a second before saluting back. "At ease, recruits." Haris walked over towards the three and spoke quietly as not to be overheard. "They're all yours Commanders. You have one week to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Use whatever methods and means you see fit. After all, this is a brand new organization, we don't have any guidelines to follow, so you're going to be making things up as you go. Good luck."

Mathison spoke loudly. "Yessir." The Admiral turned and walked out. After he was out of sight, Mathison went over the basics of what it meant to be an MT pilot, as well as pointing out the differences between the MT's. After his introduction to the units was completed he told the recruits to disperse and give the machines a once over. Once the recruits were gone, he turned to his collegues. "We need to be absolutely certain that whoever we take with us will be loyal. We can't afford people that are going to be loose cannons." Wallace and Smith nodded in unison. "Let's go guys, we've got work to do."


	3. Chapter 02 of 13 Moral Obligation

**Chapter 2 - Moral Obligation**

The week of decision making and choosing the recruits passed slowly for the three commanders. It consisted mostly of getting the recruits familiar with the MT's, how they move, how they dominate, and most importantly, figuring out who was best suited for each combat type. In truth, most of the nuggets would have been capable MT pilots in any machine they chose, however, Mathison's plans for choosing his eight were a little more interpersonal. They ended up being chosen through a series of what was called "psychological evaluations." Mostly to figure out whether the pilots were like Ruthers, or whether they actually had a soul and could be trusted to make moral judgement on the field of battle.

Shortly after the recruits were chosen and Psycho returned from leave, the unit was informed that they had a new mission. Iran was objecting to the destruction of the refugee camp. They weren't necessarily upset that the refugees were wiped out, however, the fact that it was inside Iranian sovereignity, it was being viewed as an invasion, and therefore, an act of war. They were threatening retaliation with whatever they could muster, including their recently developed ICBM's. The Pentagon considered it to be a probable threat, and the invasion order was given. What was left of the United Nations was furiously urging Iran to reconsider, before they were swallowed up by the might of the Horsemen and the American Empire.

Inside the briefing room, the Admiral was laying out the plan for the subjugation of Iran. "With the new creation of the second and third MT squadrons, we will be able to execute a multi-pronged attack that will effectively knock out communications, nuclear command, and the power grid for the entire country. We need to minimize structural damage to as much of the country as possible so that occupation doesnt' involve a lot of costly reconstructions. BC Mathison and the Alpha Squadron will be responsible for taking out the Communications grid. LC Wallace and the Bravo squadron will be hitting the nuclear grid. LC Smith and the Charlie squadron, you will be knocking out the powergrid in Terahn. This should effectively brownout the rest of the country, making power intermittent at best. We have to assume that military outposts will have backup communications and power, which is why the Air Force will be carpeting major military installations once they get the green light from us. Are there any questions?"

No one in the room spoke up. "Very well, the operation will commence at 2200 local Iranian time in 2 days. Prepare to disembark, you have one hour before you leave. Good Hunting."

The crowd of pilots got up to leave, and Mathison signaled his two other commanders to come with him. They left the breifing room and walked through a series of basement hallways so they were well out of range for anyone to overhear them. After coming to a stop and looking around for stray cameras or microphone's, he quietly spoke to them. "Are you two going to be able to handle this?"

Smith said nothing, Omni was quick to respond. "Joe, we've been discussing a few things. We can probably deal with this Iranian thing, even though you know goddamned well what we're about to do is wrong on a very real level. We're going to resign after this mission."

Mathison stood there a little taken aback. "You realize that if we leave others in control of this, they're likely going to answer the beck and call of the Admiral, without question, right? Most people inside what was the United States have never been happier, and everyone seems to think what we're doing is bringing `peace` to the world. If you leave, I'm going to have a very hard time maintaining control over the situation."

Smith folded his arms across his chest. "You're a good guy Joe, you've got the right ideas. If you want us to stick around, you're going to have to do something about this."

Lancer extended his hand. "I swear to you, that this will not continue much longer. I need you both to give me time to come up with a plan, but I need you to trust me in the meantime. We aren't going to be the personal destroyers of entire nations for much longer. I can't do this without you guys, I need you with me on this."

Omni and Thriller stood there for a second, not knowing what to do. Omni broke the silence, and took Mathisons hand. "I'm with you sir, I trust you."

Thriller shook his hand shortly after, and nodded, as if to say the same thing. They both turned and walked back towards their quarters, leaving Mathison to come up with a plan that would appease his collegues and allow him to rest at night.

*****

The trip to the Iranian border was uneventful. The anticipation in the new recruits was easily visible. Some were nervous, praying to whatever god they worshipped that they didn't screw up and they were allowed to stay in the program. Others were engaged with each other, talking about some new trick they learned while on a field exercise the previous week. Psycho was busy entertaining a couple of the rookies, telling them stories about her conquests, but mostly they were forced to listen to her babble on about how amazing she was. Mathison pitied them, but figured they'd learn soon enough not to ask her for stories about her past.

Before the Iranian subjugation, codenamed Operation Trident, went into effect, all of the pilots were required to give their machines a once over. One of the unique things that seperated the HAWC's from other military branches was that all of the pilots were responsible for the maintenance of their own machines, and each pilot had to be given a crash course in MT construction and upkeep.

The time of the operation came and went without much attention really being paid to it by Mathison or the two commanders. The rookies were excited to be on their first sortie, but like everywhere else on the planet, Iran fell in under an hour. Three seperate installations reported being attacked by the Horsemen at the exact same time, which was leaked to the world media. Everyone was now aware that there were three squadrons of MT's in the field, and countries were scrambling to make friends with the American Empire. Some smaller countries were even asking to be annexed into the Empire, so they'd be under the protection of the HAWC's, not in it's crosshairs.

The United Nations was effectively disbanded after the Iranian incident, which gave rise to the Earth Protectorate. In a world where hundreds of nations existed not more than 10 years ago, only four remained. The American Empire, the Chinese Confederacy, British Expanse and the Nation of Jeruselem. The American Empire swallowed up all of North and South America, as well as Southern Africa, and various islands all over the world. The British Expanse included all of Europe, Northern Africa, Austrailia, and parts of Western Asia. The Nation of Jeruselem swallowed up all of the middle eastern countries. The Holy Land was now unified, which is something they'd been hoping for since the beginning of the conquests of the Americans. The Chinese Confederacy owned the rest of the world, including all of Asia and the Southeast Island Chains. Anyone that was part of the American Empire couldn't be happier. The threat of war was gone, they were part of the largest and most powerful nation on Earth, and best of all, they had weapons no one else could match. The Expanse and the Confederacy were dealing with internal problems, as the nations they were annexing realized they couldn't be protected from the American Empire, even if their conquerers wanted to do so.

Back at Area 51, the mood was somber. Most of the pilots hadn't been on a single engagement in over a week, and they were getting restless. Mathison continued plotting in silence, and the other two Commanders had enough. They approached Mathison one cool night outside the compound while he was gazing into the Nevada sky, watching the stars. "Joe. We're resigning effective immediately unless you have good news for us."

Mathison smiled slightly. The lack of a `sir` in that statement or even including his rank meant they were serious and have had enough. "Well, you couldn't have picked a better time. I've come up with a plan. It's not without risk, but I think we can handle it."

Omni sat down next to him. "Care to fill us in on what's going down?"

Mathison pointed up to the sky. "Do you think there's life out there Henry? Do you think they're looking down on us, watching us, judging us to see if we're worthy of being a part of something more grandiose?" He realized he was being cryptic, but most of the time people are when they're about to do something that could be suicidal.

Thriller looked up into the sky, and Omni merely looked confused. "What?"

Joe continued on. "What happens when a warmonger runs out of people to war against? He declares war on his allies, and tries to unify the world. We saw this in World War Two. When Hitler had run out of countries to conquer in Europe, he turned his sights on Russia. Not necessarily an ally, but definately a business partner in his little adventure." He let out a long sigh. "It's coming, and we need to get out before things get any worse. I'm surprised nukes haven't been launched yet in retaliation for all of this, but I can promise you that neither Britain nor China will sit back and allow us to run them over as the rest of the world had. They -will- launch a nuclear counterattack. They probably realize that will mean their defeat, but it would be inevitable anyway, with us out there."

Omni stood up and started walking aimlessly, pathing back and forth. "Well, what did you have in mind then?"

Mathison smiled. "We deny America it's precious weapon of war, and let them all fight it out on equal grounds. That's the only way we ensure the world doesn't get destroyed through nuclear holocaust. We have a very serious moral obligation to prevent the destruction of the world. It should mean more to a soldier than anything else."

Michael laughed, rather loudly considering people weren't supposed to know where they were. "Just what the hell are we going to do? Steal all of the MT's, cargo planes, and personel that go along with it? You're out of your mind."

Mathison stood up, dusting himself off. "I said it would have risks, didn't I?"

Thriller abruptly stopped laughing. "I was joking Commander, I didn't honestly think that's what you had in mind."

"Well, it is. And now we just need to figure out when would be the opportune time to strike is. There's more people than you think that are not going to be happy with the way things are going. People don't naturally crave conquest, it's something society ingrains into them, mostly through brainwashing or propoganda. Most of the people on this base as smart enough to realize the direction we're heading. They also realize that they aren't going to be around to witness it should the Armageddon Scenario play out like this." Mathison paused to take a breath. "Spread out, start talking to everyone you can. Deck Mechanics, Logistics Officers, Quartermasters, everyone. We need to find out who we can trust, and who we can't trust."

Both Henry and Micheal stood there stunned. Mathison turned, and walked away, without even waiting for a response.


	4. Chapter 03 of 13 Decisions

**Chapter 3 - Decisions**

The next morning, Admiral Haris called the entire base down to the launch deck for what he called an address on "future affairs". Everyone on base was required to attend. The Admiral had a platform set up with a symbol on it that no one recognized. The platform itself stood about 10 feet in the air, giving off the feeling that the Admiral would be giving the address from very high up, and therefore, asserting his dominance over the base. Mathison noticed it immediately, and made sure to point it out to both Henry and Michael. As the rank and file shuffled in, the Admiral waltzed in, looking very smug and self confident. He gazed out over the two hundred soldiers he had in front of him and allowed them to gaze up at him momentarily before beginning his speech.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the HAWC. We find ourselves in a bizzare situation. The world has been brought to heel, our enemies have been supressed, and the might of the American Empire has been shown to all that refused to believe in it." The Admiral paused for the applause that came afterwards. "Make no mistake, we are far from completing our objectives." Muffled confusion came from the crowd. "We have recieved intel that China is preparing a contingancy plan to counteract our HAWC's to prevent us from defending ourselves. This is intolerable and unacceptable." He glanced down with a look of disgust on his face. "Britain and Jeruselem are funding the project as well. It appears to be a joint effort to neutralize us."

Mathison nudged his collegues as if to say `told ya`. Haris's voice continued to fill the deck. "The President has carefully considered and weighed his options in this endeavor, on just how to approach it. None of the three nations are aware that we have this intelligence, so we needed to find a way to proceed in a way that will allow us to neutralize these nations without starting world war three. The former territory of Nevada is going to be seceeding from the American Empire, and through this, we will launch several attacks into the territories to prevent them from developing the technology that will neutralize your MT's."

The deck fell dead silent. Everyone here understood what was being said, but what they didn't understand was why they would be attacking nations that were friendly with the Americans. "As for us," Haris continued, "we will be on our own. We won't be recieving logistical support from the Empire, however we will still be siphoned intel, that will be hand delivered to us, as to prevent any possible communication leaks. We are about to unify the entire world as one nation of solidarity. All peoples will come to recognize our president as the rightful leader of the world."

Mathison was almost elated inside, but didn't show it. _That fool. That overambitious fool. There is no way the president sanctioned this. He's staging a coup and is getting everyone to go along with it, or so he thinks, through a noble cause. This couldn't be more perfect. Thank you, Haris, you just filled in the last little bit of my plan. _Everyone else looked aghast at what was being suggested. For the first time in world history, someone was talking about conquering the entire planet. The only difference was that this time, there was literally nothing that could stop the man from wiping out everything with his Massive Tanks, should he choose to do so.

The Admiral carried on a bit longer about honor, duty, and respect, as well as nonchalantly stating that the base was in a full communications blackout, but wrapped things up fairly quickly afterwards, and departed back to his office, leaving approximately two hundred very confused people on the deck, wondering what had really just happened. Mathison decided it was time to talk to all of the pilots in the battalion. Haris had lost his mind, and now was the time to make his move.

"HAWC Pilots, meet in briefing room Delta immediately," he announced, "We have many things to discuss regarding the dawn of the new world order. Be there in 10 minutes. Dismissed." Mathison waved both Smith and Wallace over. "It's time," he whispered, "they're going to need to know what's going to happen once we get our move order."

Both of the commanders nodded and immediately took off for the briefing room, and Mathison sprinted towards his quarters. He needed to gather his papers and go over his plan one more time to ensure there were no holes in it before addressing the pilots. As he reached his quarters, Admiral Haris was waiting for him, and greeted him rather whimsically. "Joe, you seem like you're in a hurry."

_Goddamnit, just what I need. _"Yessir, I am. I've called a briefing for the battalion that will, hopefully, prepare them for the events to come." _Not necessarily lying, just leaving a few things out. At the very least, it will appear sincere._

Haris opened his hands. "What do you think of my plan, Mathison? Rather ingenious if I do say so myself."

Joe decided to fiegn a little ignorance. "I thought this was the plan devised by the President, sir?"

"Oh come on Mathison, you know better than that. The President is incredibly shortsighted and can't see the obvious threats to national security. So I'm being forced to step things up to compensate for his lack of initiative. Things will play out just fine in the end."

"Yes, I'm sure they will sir."

"Oh, one other thing, Lancer."

Joe paused, "Sir?"

With the secession from the Empire, we're going to be forced to look for other means of revanue. Please inform your pilots to be on the lookout for vital resources, and limit collateral damage so we can reap the spoils. We've got one last shipment coming in from the defense department that should secure us for three months without additional requirements, however, past that, we'll be on our own. Also, I've discovered something you might want to address sooner, rather than later..."

Haris handed him a manilla folder with the words **Classified USAF: Samantha Ruthers **splattered across the front of it. "She needs to be eliminated as soon as possible. Inside you'll see the reasons why. Pilots are replacable. Remember that. Just make sure she's not inside her MT when you erase her, we don't want to have to replace that machine."

Mathison was fuming on the inside. _So, the MT's are really the only thing you care about, are they? _"It will happen, sir. If you would please excuse me, I need to read this, get some things from my quarters, and brief the battalion."

Haris nodded and walked off.

After Haris was out of sight, he opened the folder, and was a little surprised at what he saw. _This makes way too much sense. Everything makes sense. Goddamnit, no wonder she's nuts._

Mathison quickly gathered his things, and took off at a dead sprint towards the briefing room. By the time he'd arrived, all of the pilots were seated around the table, waiting for him to show up. Psycho was even looking calm and collected today, and it even looked like she was going to be paying attention. _That's good, I don't want to out her in front of everyone, so hopefully she'll pick up on the more subtle hints. _The pilots noticed him entering the room and quickly sat down and went silent, waiting for their boss to address them.

Lancer began distrubuting folders to each of the eleven pilots in front of him, but made sure Psycho recieved the folder Haris had given him, underneath the one that outlined his plan, of course. As the pilots began to go over the folders, they started looking up at him, unable to comprehend what they were reading. Mathison made sure each one of them were going to follow the rules. "Pilots. Do you understand the very first line of the briefing protocal?" If anyone was listening into the briefing, and he was sure the Admiral would be, this was absolutely key, as the first line read: `The briefing you're about to get is a ruse. You will disregard everything that is about to be said by me, and read the briefing in this folder instead.

He looked around the room, and one after the other, the pilots nodded an affirmation, all except psycho, who was now reading the second folder she'd been handed. Very slowly, she looked over at Lancer, with a look of terror, who was sure to look at her, and make a reinforcing gesture. She wasn't buying it, and stood up, getting ready to leave... this wasn't good. "Senior Pilot Samantha Ruthers sit your ass down right now or so help me god, everyone on this base is going to get filled in."

She sat down very quickly, avoiding eye contact from everyone in the room. _That got her attention. She'll play ball... for now._

The Battalion Commander then went through with his mock briefing, outlining different targets of opportunity, as well as targets that needed to be neutralized for strategic purposes. He made sure to add in Haris's request, and made it sound extra bloodthirsty and necessary. He figured the extra enthusiasm would clear any suspicion the Admiral had about dissent inside the pilot ranks. When Mathison was finished outlining the Admirals plans to neutralize the other three nations, he asked if there were any questions. He knew there would be. Each pilot was given a question to ask if they agreed with what they were reading inside the folder. And all of them did... all but one... who just sat in silence. An alarm went off in everyone's head.

"Pilot, please reiterate your name and rank."

The lone pilot looked over. "Pilot Jenos Idallian, third HAWC squadron, recon."

Mathison nodded. "Everyone here, please take your folders back to your quarters and study them. Very, very carefully. Commit them to memory, and then discard them into the base incinerator. We have to be sure that the deck personel, as well as the others on the base do not catch wind of what is about to happen."

The pilots began to stand up, and shuffle off. "Smith, Ruthers, Wallace, and Idallian, remain behind."

All four looked at each other and retook their seats. "Smith and Wallace first. Things are in order. Do you see any problems arising from your end with regards to how the missions will go?"

Omni sat back and grinned, "Loads. But those can always be dealt with on the spot. Don't worry Commander, I have faith." Thriller just shot him a thumbs up.

"Alright, you two are dismissed."

They both rose and left, in very good spirits. Micheal even gave his buddy a playful little punch on the shoulder, which caused him to stumble and nearly faceplant into the door on his way out.

Mathison turned back towards the two remaining pilots. "Idallian. I noticed you didn't have any questions during the briefing. Could you elaborate why that is for me?"

The pilot stared back. "Sir, respectfully, I'm not entirely convinced it would be any different."

Mathison nodded. "That is why it's called a leap of faith, Jenos." He paused for a moment, looking for a way to word it that wouldn't alarm any observers. "The world is heading towards a very bad place, and we're the only ones in a unique place to do anything about it. Righting the injustices of the world is a responsibility that we alone are mandated to undertake. In the face of evil, we are required to be good. Will things be different? Absolutely. Do I know how everything is going to play out? No. I don't believe that a legitmate plan could be made to prepare that far in advance. Plans are only written to be rewritten later, after they've become obsolete."

The pilot seemed to accept that response. "Sir, with all due respect. What is the point in secceeding from the American Empire, only to rejoin it later?"

Mathison cheered on the inside, that was the pilots coded question of agreement. "Well, it gives us the ability to move without restriction, and take care of things in a way the Admiral sees fit. If we're free to move without restriction, we're not limited by local laws, nor are we limited by the current rules of engagement."

Idallian stood and saluted. "Sir. Permission to be dismissed. I have studying to do."

Mathison shot back a salute. "Dismissed, Pilot."

The pilot tore out of the room at almost rocketlike speeds, obviously eager to get busy going over his paperwork.

Psycho was sitting still, silent, staring intently at the table. The only thing she'd said during the entire briefing was the coded question, which was half-hearted and very monotone. Mathison decided it was time to put her at ease. "So, you've got yourself an interesting record. Who would have known that the illigitimate child of one of the most notorious Chinese-American double agents would have managed to get this far inside our ranks without raising a single flag."

The words that came from her lips were very short and cracked. "Due respect sir, I'm not my father."

Mathison nodded slightly. "But the family ties go quite a distance back. It seems your family is one of traitors, dating all the way back to your oldest ancestors in ancient China. I'm not a believer of the phrase `apple doesn't fall far from the tree` but in your case, it would seem it's an orchard of history that lies beind you."

Upon hearing this, Psycho drew her sidearm and just stared at it momentarily. After hesitating, she put it on the table and slid it towards Mathison. "Get it over with, I know what's going to happen."

Mathison picked up the sidearm, and guagued it. It was loaded, and live. "Stand up Pilot." She did. "Do you want to see it coming, or do you want it from behind?"

Again, she hesitated, as if she couldn't honestly believe this was happening. "I'm a big girl, commander. I've never looked away from death before, might as well keep the trend alive." She chuckled, "at least for the next thirty seconds or so."

Mathison nodded and took aim, directly at her forehead. "Senior Pilot Samantha Ruthers, it has been an honor to serve with you. It's a shame that it has to end like this."

She stood there, proud, and fully at attention. "Spare me the sappy bullshit, sir, and just get it overwith."

He nodded. "As you wish, Pilot." He took aim and cocked the hammer on the sidearm back. She closed her eyes. Mathison squeezed the trigger, three times, the shots ringing loudly in the corridor.

What seemed like an eternity passed, and Psycho exhaled, opened her eyes, and gave her body a once over. As she was doing so, noticed the three smoking holes in her chair.

Mathison clicked the saftey of the weapon back on, and threw it back onto the table. "Samantha Ruthers, you are now dead. How you choose to live in death is up to you. I suggest you don't let the other ghosts, primarily the ones from your past, dictate your actions anymore. As far as you're concerned from hereon out, I am your only anchor to this world. I cut the anchor, you go straight to hell. Are we clear?"

She stood up, attempting to make sense of exactly what it was that was happening here, and after it sank in, she stood at full attention and saluted again, and very loudly and enthusiastically answered her commanding officer. "Yes sir!"

Mathison saluted back. "You are dismissed, Ghost. You have matieral to read, I suggest you get to it, as you're already behind your comrades."

She grabbed the two folders and hustled out of the room.

Mathison thought about what he'd just done. The Admiral wasn't going to like it. The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than the man himself walked into the room with a very confused look on his face. _Speak of the devil and it shall appear._

"I was listening in on your briefing, Commander, and I was fine with everything up until that last episode. You mind telling me why it is you're disobeying orders?" The Admiral had a look on his face that suggested he was more confused than angry. I suppose in his mind he figured he could always reverse the mercy and have her executed later if he didn't like Mathisons response.

"Yes sir." Mathison braced himself and hoped that the longshot in his head payed off. "With the defection from the American Empire, should things go wrong, we have ourselves a very prominent scapegoat. We have the command structure `locked` in a brig, stage a coup, which we will subsequently `escape` from, and we make her records available to the president. This gives us a reason to rejoin the American Empire in the miniscule chance that things don't go the way we hope they do, and we need to use the Empire again."

The Admiral was elated. "Joe, this is why I keep you around! You always think of the things that I seem to overlook! Very well done."

Mathison saluted him, as painful as it was. "Thank you sir. The Admirals faith is not misplaced."

Haris wasn't even paying attention at this point, another cog in his master plan had just been put into place. He strutted out of the room, full of ambitious pride.

_You're going to burn, you son of a bitch, and I'm going to be your instrument of death._

Mathison sighed. He was hungry. Planning a revolt required a lot of energy. He took off towards the mess hall, silently wondering if it was Salsbury Steak day.

*******

The rest of the week passed very quietly and the pilots did as they were asked. Fanning out amongst the base personel, talking to some of the ones they considered close friends. Mathisons plan was becoming reality very, very quickly, and all that was left was the spark that would trigger the bomb that would change the world. More and more of the base was being filled in on the phrase to listen for that would signal the change of the tides.

It only took a few days for that opportunity to arise. Haris ordered all of his pilots to get into the MT's, and prepare to withdraw from the Empire. Haris figured there would be a massive response from the Empire, given their ultimate weapon, their trump card, was no longer with them. All twelve pilots were lifted up into the Nevada desert, and Haris took the time to address them all. "Pilots. Now is the time to put our ruse into effect. It is very important that what the world is about to see appears as authentic as possible, so don't be surprised at the reaction's were about to see. Everything is going to be broadcasted on a very wide frequency, on multiple satillites all over the world, to ensure that as many people as possible see it. We need this to be convincing. Stand by, and enjoy the show."

Mathison looked over towards Omni and put up two fingers on his right hand, four on his left. This was instantly understood, and a thumbs up was given back.

A few minutes of silence followed, and then their cockpits were filled by the images of both Admiral Haris, and the President of the American Empire.

"Good Evening, Mr. President." Haris started. "The HAWC's have decided to make a public declaration of intent."

The President was sitting inside the oval office, staring back at him. "Admiral Haris? What is the meaning of this?"

"Mr. President, the HAWC's, and all of Area 51, as well as what used to be the state of Nevada hereby withdraw from the American Empire. We will be acting as an independant nation from hereon out, without listening to the psychotic babble and beuaracracy that flows from the desk of all of the Senators and yourself. We are finished listening to incompetent Generals and Intelligence officers. We are no longer under your control."

The President was getting very red in the face. "Haris! What the hell are you talking about? Just what are you saying? Do you realize that you will be hunted? Do you realize that we WILL find you, we WILL destroy you, and we WILL bring all of our MT's back under American Control? Mark my words Haris, you WILL regret the decision you're making here today."

Mathison signaled Omni, and Haris's portrait dissappeared from everyone's cockpit, and was replaced by that of the Battalion Commander."Greetings Mr. President. My name is Joe Mathison, commander of the HAWC Battalion. We have some things to discuss."


	5. Chapter 04 of 13 AWOL

**Chapter 4 - AWOL**

"Joe Mathison? Yes, that name has come to my attention several times in the past two years. Would you mind telling me what is going on here?" The President was looking very confused, and very agitated.

"Admiral Haris has planned to conquer the world sir. Invading Britain, China, and Israel, in a plot that would `unify` it, and bring it to heel under his leadership. Obviously as a conscientious soldier, I cannot allow that to happen and have made plans of my own that will prevent the Admiral from completing this objective." Mathison paused, waiting for a response.

"I see, it appears we made the right choice entrusting you with the command of that Battalion, Mathison. If you would please, arrest Haris and hold him until we can detach a squad of Marines to bring him into custody." The President looked relieved. To bad it would be short lived.

"Mr. President...I will have Haris confined and arrested, however, the HAWC Battalion will no longer be fighting for the American Empire."

"Say again, Commander?"

"The recent actions and invasions of over a hundred countries around the world are a violation of the rights of every human being on this planet. The United States of America once stood for the concept of human rights, no matter which country it was. We all fought in several wars to protect those rights. We liberated countries from dictators and turned them over to the people. We fight tyranny and evil no matter where it comes from. The HAWC Battalion will no longer be a part of the Empire that has fallen so far from it's ideals."

The President was nearly at a loss for words. "You realize that this will make you no better than Admiral Haris, correct?"

"All due respect sir, I don't have any intentions to conquer even a single nation with these MT's. The HAWC's are going to be withdrawn from all conflict around the world until further notice, and we will be taking up permenant residence at a later time. With the HAWC's no longer a trump card in the hands of a power hungry, greedy empire, the world will seek to balance itself. It is the hopes of myself, and everyone that is choosing to follow me, that conquered nations rise up against their oppressors and reclaim the territory they lost through the actions I am directly responsible for."

The President sank in his chair. "You have limited supplies. You're not going to last without direct support from the American Empire, Mathison. The world is changing and working towards unification. Crime is down in every corner of the world, people no longer fear what used to be hostile countries on thier borders. What we are doing is right, Commander, even you have to acknowledge that."

Mathison's eyes glanced back in forth, in thought, before responding. "Unification through domination is something that has been tried in history, many, many times. From Ghenkis Khan and Alexander the Great, to Julius Caesar, Napolean, Hitler, and even most recently Ayatola Haemini. The American Empire has resorted to a stance that mirrors that of these former conquerers." Mathison's words came out very pained. "Mr. President, it is with great regret that I hereby announce to both you, and the world, that the HAWC's are being removed from the control of the American Empire. Admiral Haris will be quarantined on base until the Marine division arrives to take him into custody. We will remain in control of this base for a period of 72 hours, after which we will be vacating with all personel and equipment we need necessary to our survival. After the 72 hours is over, the base will be abandoned, and left for the American Empire to reclaim." Mathison stopped. _Letting the Marines walk around freely might be a mistake... time for insurance. _ "Mr. President. If more than a single squad of marines shows up here for Haris, they will be met with force. If so much as a single person from this base comes up missing, they will be erradicated and I will not only stay here on this base, I will start leveling all targets I choose. I believe it's important to get Haris back into your hands, but at the same time, I need to protect my people."

The President didn't appear angry, he didn't appear withdrawn... he appeared defeated. "I'll give the order Mathison." He then raised his hands up. "Where will you go?"

"We haven't planned that far in advance sir. Needless to say, the world will be informed when we take up permenant residence." With that, Mathison signaled to Omni, who cut the feed. Cheers could be heard echoing across the base from the soldiers that were on the ground. Some were even firing random shots in the air. Inside, Mathison was feeling a mix of emotions. _Reminds me of times when good and evil were a little more clear. I hope this is the right decision._

"We're getting a communication from the Command Center." Omni's voice cut through Joe's haze of thought. "The Admiral is uh... unhappy."

"Of course he is. Patch him through."

The Admirals profile filled his communications screen, and as Omni had previously mentioned, he was definately unhappy. "Goddamnit Mathison, what the hell do you think you are doing? You're never going to get off of this base alive. You are a fool to try and defy me!"

Mathison smiled. "I assume the whole command center is watching and listening to this transmission?"

The Admiral stopped. "Of course they are, why wouldn't they be? It doesn't matter, you get your ass back inside the deck and..."

Lancer cut him off. "Security, sieze and detain the Admiral. Put him in his quarters and confine him there until the Marines show up to take him... well... wherever they're going to take him."

The Admirals face dissappeared from the screen, but he could clearly be heard shouting a number of vulgarities and orders at the people he believed were under his control. _That takes care of that, time to address the base._

Omni was given the signal, and Mathison began broadcasting. "HAWC's, as of this point in time, the only people who are effectively on the shit list of the American Empire are the twelve pilots inside the MT's. No one else has been implicated in the defection. Now is the time to make your decision. You have been given a rare opportunity to decide which side of history you elect to be on. The side that fights for freedom, no matter where it is, or the side that chooses to suppress those freedoms. It is likely that not everyone will choose to go with us, and that is fine. Which side you choose to fight for is entirely up to you, and should you choose to go with the Americans, no harm will come to you as a result. Those that attempt to stop us through force, will become the first casualties in this new chapter of our history. It would pain me greatly to think I had to turn my weapons on any of you, however, this is now a matter of survival." Mathison paused to let the words sink in to those that were listening.

"Those that choose to go with us, understand that the road ahead is going to be long, and painful. We don't even know where we're going at this point. We just know that we can't sit by and suffer the intolerance of a nation that has forgotten it's very reason for existence. Those that choose to be with us, meet on the deck in 15 minutes. Those that have chosen to stay behind and rejoin the Americans, please go to your quarters and remain there for the duration of our withdrawl."

Again, Mathison signaled Omni who cut the feed.

*******

When the pilots came to the deck, what they saw surprised them. They knew they would get people to go with them, but it appeared as if the entire base had turned out for this. Samantha whistled when she joined the rest of her comrades on the deck, outside their machines. "Incredible, isn't it? I've spent my entire carreer looking to prove that I'm not just a repeat of the past. Looks like no matter how hard I fight it, I just can't get away from it."

Mathison put his arm firmly around her. "Some of the worst people in history had the best intentions. We just have to make sure we're the ones writing the books 25 years from now." He paused briefly, and called the pilot squadron to attention. "First, things first, I want to get this out of the way sooner, as opposed to later. Senior Pilot Samantha Ruthers, aka Psycho, is no longer going to be known by her current callsign, and neither will I." The pilots look slightly confused. "Samantha Ruthers will now be known by the callsign Ghost." The Pilots let out an "oo-rah" of acknowledgement. "I will no longer be known as Lancer, as the term suggest that I'm the tip of the spear that's pointed at the world. From hereon out, I will be known as `anchor`. I will be the one rooting the concept of freedom to the world, one way or another." The Pilots let out another "oo-rah". Ruthers managed to crack a grin, looking up at Mathison, as if sharing a private joke. "Alright people, we've got a lot of work to do and not a whole lot of time to do it. Let's get to it."

Mathison laid his plan out for those gathered on the deck, as well as congratulating them for choosing the road that would be difficult. Standing for the solidarity of concepts long since gone from the world is something that they would most likely not live to regret. The whole world was now looking right at them, setting their sights on taking control of what would be the now `broken arrow` of the American Empire. After he'd finished addressing the base, he dismissed them, ordering them to gather all supplies and make sure all weapons, vehicles, and supplies were loaded up and prepped for transport.

The first 24 hours passed by very quickly, with no one on the base getting much rest at all. Some on the base were watching news broadcasts as if it were something brand new and never before seen. The entire world was in a frenzy with the announcement that the Americans no longer had their weapons. No less than 20 previously independant nations from all over the world had renounced their oppressers and declared their sovreignity again. Those independant nations were calling Mathison a hero, standing up against villainy, recognizing free will and delivering that gift back into the world.

It was approaching 1400 on the second day, when word reached Mathison that the Marine unit had arrived, and had been given clearence to go into the hanger so they could be lowered onto the deck, where they were expecting to take control of Admiral Haris's imprisonment. Mathison also recieved word that the President himself was being escorted by the Marines. When he heard this, he decided to oversee the transferrance of the Admiral himself, and ordered security to bring Haris up to the deck.

All of the HAWC pilots and Haris, along with his guards, were standing on the deck, waiting for the President to appear from behind the blast doors. Haris looked like shit. Mathison had been informed that he'd attempted suicide while in his quarters, but the guards were on him before he could go through with it. _How sad it is, when the ambitions of a madman fall crumbling from the anthill he thought was a mountain that watched over the world. _

The President appeared, flanked by approxmately twelve Marines. He walked over to the group of now renegade pilots, and stopped short, staring at Admiral Haris, who was looking him dead in the eye now, a hint of lunacy showing in his face. "Good afternoon, Mr. President," Haris started in, "what brings you to Nevada on this warm day?"

The President looked at the man with absolute disgust. "Admiral Haris, you have been charged with treason, as well as conspiracy to overthrow the American Empire, and bring war to innocents around the world. What do you say to these charges?"

Haris stood up a little straighter than he had been previously. "That, Mr. President, is exactly why I'm glad you showed up. I've been held hostage by Mathison and his defectors for the last week or so. They forced my participation in this little charade, threatening my family and friends if I didn't cooperate. I'm innocent here Mr. President."

The pilots were unable to maintain their attention any longer. Most were snickering, others were laughing hysterically. Mathison, chuckling visibly gave the motion for them all to attempt to regain control before speaking himself. "He's all yours, Mr. President."

The President looked over Haris once before eyeballing him again. "Your defiance of these charges has been noted." the President turned towards Mathison. "Sidearm, please."

Mathison was a little surprised by this, but pulled out his weapon, armed it, and handed it to the President. "Sure."

He took the gun, looked it over, and then finally, looked back towards Haris. "I have never fired one of these things. Not even once. I don't believe in violence and bloodshed, and I take actions that I truly believe are the right course for the world. These pilots standing next to you are just as guilty as you are Haris, the difference is that they're not threatening the lives of billions of people through their actions. History will be their judge, their jury, and their executioner. But as for you...."

The President leveled the barrel of the weapon between the eyes of the Admiral. "You are still a part of the American Empire, and subject to it's laws and doctrines. You are found guilty before this military court unless any Marines present object as such." He paused, giving the Marines that were escorting him a chance to come to the defense of the Admiral. None did. A shot rang out through the deck and Haris's head shot backward, blood spewing from the hole in his crown as he impacted the floor.

Everyone stood and stared at the body, taking in the lessons that were being delivered to them. Tyranny is met with incredible resistance, a lesson they would all need to remember, very clearly, if they were to survive the next year. The President broke the akward silence. "Mathison, I need to know something."

Anchor shook his head to clear the webs from it. "And what would that be?"

"Do you plan on invading the American Empire in retaltion for what you consider to be the unethical treatment of various independant nations around the world?"

Mathison responded instantaneously. "That depends on your point of view, sir. Among other things, it is our greatest wish that the nations that have been subverted are allowed their independance again. Of course, those that don't wish to go back to the way things were previously are a different story, but there are a great many nations out there that will be relishing in their newfound freedom. The HAWC's have a lot of sins to atone for, and in absolution, we will assist any conquered nation in the re-establishment of it's sovreignity."

The President offered the sidearm back to the Commander. "Good luck to you then, Mathison. I'd stop you if I could, but not even we have the ability to counteract the MT's. I hope you know what you're doing." He saluted Mathison, and walked off, heading back towards the elevator that would get him off the deck.

As the pilots watched him go, most were feeling their last ties to a former nation cut away from them. There is no going back now, there is no return. They'd just thrown their lot in with the Commander. Now the fight for survival begins. The serious tone on the deck was interrupted by Ruthers, who was now kicking her boot against the corpse of the Admiral. "Man... this thing is going to start to stink in a couple of hours. Can we get rid of it?"

*******

The rest of their time in Area 51 passed with little to no incident. There were a couple brawls amongst base personel that had to be broken up, most likely due to stress and fatigue, but their time in Nevada had come to an end. There was a full battalion of tanks approaching the base, as the group was getting ready to depart. Mathison recognized it immediately as the First Armored Division. They stopped at the entrance to the base, not wanting to cause any alarm or panic. They were just here to take over as soon as the HAWC's had left.

On the other side of the fence, the emotion was one of confusion, and admiration. Mathison's old unit had been dispatched to reclaim command of the base once he'd vacated. All of the veteran soldiers here had taken orders from him at one time or another, and all of the rookies knew who he was through reputation alone. Cargo planes and helecopters were taking off, one after another, to some distant destination. They watched their former commanding officer board the last plane, and wave to them as he dissappeared inside. Cheers could be heard for miles. As the final C-130 took off and faded into the distance of the setting Nevada sun, most of them realized this was the last time they were ever going to see Joe Mathison.


	6. Chapter 05 of 13 Rebirth

**Chapter 5 - Rebirth**

The initial month passed quickly. The HAWC unit moved from landmass to landmass, atoning for their past by helping nations reclaim their independance. Although they were helping these nations pro bono, most of the time the countries were more than happy to share what they could with the HAWC pilots. Giving them a place to stay, food, and even sharing some of the local culture with them, participating in rituals and even ceremonies that honored the pilots that had come to their aid. They most recent country that had chosen to be liberated was that of Australia.

Mathison found himself very happy in this place. There was a little of everything to be shared here. New Zealand had chosen to remain with the British Expanse, however, tourism from the island shot way up when it was announced the HAWC's would be on the island. The unit had decided very early on that hiding like bandits or gurellas would most likely be a very bad idea, since it would promote conspiracy theories around the world about their actions. There were some nations, China in particular, that were calling the groups defection a massive American plot to make themselves look like the good guys.

The negotiation with the British took approximately a week, and ended without a single shot being fired, which was always a good sign in terms of a peaceful transition. As the group was preparing to depart, Mathison recieved a call over his radio from Omni. "Boss, we've got another country that is requesting aid... but they are offering something a little... different. You might want to come up here and take over for me, since I don't want to be the one to make the call on this."

Mathison was a little confused, he'd left Omni in charge for a reason, and he'd shown no problems in the past dealing with countries that wanted to be free, so whatever this was, it was most likely very sensitive. "Be right there Henry."

Anchor made his way over to the command tent where there was a growing crowd, apparently the news of the next job was spreading pretty quickly, as there were about 50 people, mixed military and civilian, gathered outside the tent, trying to leer inside. He made his way through the crowd and inside the tent. Henry was staring at a moniter with about 10 people huddled around him. He glanced over at Joe. "You're not going to believe this one sir."

He walked over and took a look at the moniter everyone was fixated on. All that was on it was the economic and landmass data of the island of Sri Lanka, off of the Chinese coast. "Okay... so Sri Lanka wants independance... what's the big deal?"

Henry said nothing, and instead offered him the headset he'd been wearing, and his seat. Mathison took it and sat down. "Henry... what's going on here, we don't have time for this."

Henry reached down and tapped a few different keys on the keyboard. "Yes, we really do sir."

The image of what would be a Sri Lankan local female appeared on the screen. Mathison looked over towards Henry, shrugged his shoulders, and put the headphones on. "Yep, she's cute. And she's asian which means she's probably an awesome lay. Good job Henry, you found yourself a keeper." Mathison shot him a confused thumbs up. "Just don't tell Ruthers I said that."

"Commander Joe Mathison, I presume? Yes, I can hear you loud and clear." The voice came over the headphones. Mathison immediately realized she'd been listening.

He looked back at the screen and the lady had an amused look on her face, but was attempting to remain serious. "I'm here as a representative of the Sri Lankan Freedom Movement to propose an offer from the our people regarding the HAWC's and a permenant stronghold from which you can operate from."

Mathison was in the middle of recovering from his fou pax but couldn't suppress a muffled choke. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't misunderstand Commander, there will be requirements from your end as well before we're willing to agree to something like this, but the long and the short of it is that we're open to talks about the HAWC unit taking up a permenant residence here, as well as recieving supplies from the locals and the government here in exchange for protection, as well as liberation from China." She paused to let the information sink in.

Mathison was a little surprised by the offer, it's clear why Henry brought him in now. "Helping you gain freedom from the Republic of China is something we're always willing to do, however, we're not looking to be controlled by any government. The last time we took orders, the world was supressed in a blanket of Imperialism, and we have no interest in doing anything like that again. I'm sorry, but I don't think that's something that will work out for anyone. Please continue speaking with my Executive Officer if you'd like to make arrangements to liberate the island. Thank you."

"You'll have full control of military operations." She quickly added.

Mathison paused in the middle of standing up.

"We have no desire to give the HAWC unit any orders, nor do we have any desire to expand our influence outside our island. All we want is freedom and security, something I believe you can respect, given the nature of your operations over the last month. What we are offering is a symbiotic relationship that benefits both sides. The HAWC's will have the benefit of having a place to call home, you won't have to jump from place to place, wondering where your next supply is coming from. And the island will no longer have to worry about coming under fire when we withdraw from the Chinese Republic. All operations the HAWC's undertake will not be subject to and form of inquiry, nor will your unit have to worry about reprisals from the Sri Lankan people. Think of it as a joint business venture, commander."

The wheels inside Joe's head started turning at a frenzied pace, weighing out the positives and negatives of agreeing to the proposal. "I didn't catch your name Miss.."

"Sao Xi" she responded.

"Well, Xi, give me a little time to talk this over with my command branch and we'll get back to you. I assume this frequency is secure?" He added.

"Yes, it is. Get in contact with me any time, day or night, please. We are very eager to move forward with the specifics, and look forward to hearing from you in the near future."

Mathison nodded, and the profile of the asian woman dissappeared from the moniter. He sat back in his seat and folded his hands in front of him. All eyes were on him, waiting for some sort of response. "Henry."

"What's up Boss?" He asked quickly.

"Get in touch with the Austrailian Prime Minister and request that we stay here for a few days longer while we come to a decision regarding the proposal the Sri Lankan's have put forward. After that, get the commanders of all divisions together for a briefing in one hour."

Henry quickly saluted and went to work.

Mathison got up and walked outside the tent, people were looking towards him, for some sign of what was going on. "Alright people, there's been a development in our plans. We're in talks with another nation to assist in their independance. The command branch is going to have an emergency briefing to discuss the specifics, but rest assured, in just a few days, everyone will know exactly what's going on."

Everyone in the crowd started whispering to each other, contemplating where things were headed. Some people suspected that it was a country in the Middle East, while others were convinced that South America was finally going to reclaim it's independance. Mathison decided that allowing people to speculate would most likely not be a good idea. "Without divulging the name of the country, as that would put them at risk of a pre-emptive strike from their dominant nation, I can tell you that this country has offered us a very unique set of conditions that will allow us to take up a permenant base of operations, without interfering in our command structure. We've just started talking about this, so please understand, nothing is set in stone, and this may not even happen."

With that, Mathison walked back to his barracks, and gathered his things. A brisk jog would allow him to clear his head before going to the meeting.

*******

"Alright, we've gone over this a few different times now. We won't know anything else until we talk more with the Sri Lankan representative Sao Xi, but at this point, we need to come to a decision on whether or not we want to continue talks with them and start going over details." Mathison was tired. They'd been going over this for the past two hours, and some people were having a hard time coming to grips with the idea that they didn't know much of anything about what the government was proposing.

"Sir, with all due respect, if we take up a permenant residence anywhere on the planet, we run the risk of becoming exactly like the American Empire, and we leave ourselves vulnerable to reprisal from whoever is giving us the base. Whether it's in the form of hostilities in the streets from the citizens, or, the government denying us supplies in order to get us to do something for them. This is a bad idea, sir." The man speaking was one of the Senior Mechanics for the unit.

Henry joined in. "Look, for at least like... the 10th time now... we don't know anything. We're just trying to figure out whether or not we're going to go through with the talks. Nothing more, nothing less. We can always back out later before agreeing to anything once we hear exactly what it is that's being proposed."

"Due respect Wallace, it sounds like we're going to go through with these talks no matter what. So much for a democratic military system." the mechanic was sneering now.

Mathison was rubbed the wrong way by that statement. "This is my command, soldier. I am doing everyone in this unit a charity by including all types of people in the talks and discussions. I could simply make a decision and run with it without consulting even a single goddamned person in this unit, and there's not a thing that would be done about it. Let me make something very clear. This is my show. If you want to be a part of it, you're more than welcome to stay, but anymore comments like that, and I'll remove you from these discussions and have the mechanics elect someone that is a little more tactful in their approach. Are we clear?"

The mechanic said nothing.

Mathison slammed his fist on the table, pissed off, and now yelling at the man. "I said are we clear?"

The mechanic was startled by the much louder sounds that were invading his auditory canals now, and managed a very timid "Yes sir."

Mathison looked over the rest of the people gathered here. "Listen, you all made a choice. That choice was to follow this unit wherever it goes. To follow me wherever I go. I warned you all before we started that at times we were going to have to make hard decisions. That there would be rough times ahead. You all came with me anyway. Now, I'm telling you all to suck it up, and start acting like fucking soldiers and not politicians. That's my job, not yours."

Joe sighed and calmed himself. "Now, I don't care what your reasons are. Not one bit, I really don't. But we're going to see a vote, right now, on whether or not to continue talks with the movement in Sri Lanka. Everyone stand up."

Those seated at the table all rose. "If you are in favor of continuing talks, sit back down." All but two sat down. "Gentlemen, your votes against have been noted. We will continue talks with them. Understand that continuing the talks doesn't mean we're going to do anything. Just means we're going to get a little more information out of them. You are all dismissed, thank you for attending."

Everyone rose, began talking amongst themselves, and walked out. Omni remained behind. "You seem stressed Joe."

Mathison put his face into his hands. "Try to do one positive thing to keep people involved and all of the sudden everyone feels like they're a victim of something. At least I understand the reason some nations laugh at democracy."

Henry shrugged. "That's the way things work. Let's get back to talking with Sri Lanka, at least that way we'll have an idea of what we're dealing with, and we can put this headache behind us."

Mathison slowly got up, and walked out of the command tent, Wallace close behind him. They moved slowly to the communications tent, where Mathison intended to contact Sao Xi to talk about details. Mathison sat down and put the headset on. "Get her on the horn, Henry."

After ten minutes of waiting, she finally showed up, clearly not expecting to speak with the HAWC's for a bit yet, she was dressed in a very causal way that suggested she was on her way to a nightclub of some sort. Mathison's fatigue instantly dissappeared. "Well this was certainly worth the wait. Are we interrupting you Xi?"

"Yes, you are, however, this is far more important, so I'm more than happy to take the time to speak with you." She seemed to be in good spirits.

"Alright, let's start talking some details Xi, we need to be absolutely clear on what it is you guys expect from us, as well as what you're offering us."

*******

"To all of those who have tuned into this broadcast, we thank you. Tonight, we deliver some very important developments and plans for the HAWC unit." Mathison was elated. No more running from place to place, no more wondering, and most importantly, a sleeping pattern that was at least going to be stable. "We have recieved an offer from a nation that is currently not free, but seeks to be, that will give the HAWC's a permenant base of operations." He paused briefly, choosing his words carefully, as not to alarm the entire world.

"What this means is that we will have a place to conduct business from, and we will be in no way assossiate with, or answer to, the nation in question. We will not be recieving any orders from them, we will not be providing them military assets for personal ambition. In exchange for the base, we have a defense contract to protect their borders from any that would attempt to sieze control of the country. In less than twenty four hours, we will be taking control of our new home, on the newly freed island of Sri Lanka, off the coast of China."

"To the Chinese Government," Mathison continued, "Sri Lanka has transmitted it's request for freedom to us, and in keeping with our practices, we have answered it and we will assist. As stated before, in less than 24 hours, we will be making landfall in Sri Lanka, and we expect to see a full withdrawl in effect. Any hostile actions towards the people of Sri Lanka will be met with extreme force. Approximately two hours ago, the contract for the nations defense was signed and went into immediate effect. Please understand we have no desire to engage the forces of the Chinese Military, however, we will do what is necessary to protect our newfound home. Thank you all for tuning into the brief announcement. Have a good day."

With that, Wallace cut the feed. "Alright, it's all done. This tent is the last thing to go as well, we need to get moving."

Mathison nodded and took off towards his C-130. They'd already recieved initial reports that the Island was in chaos and that the Chinese weren't likely withdraw without a fight. The unit had been ordered to be on high alert as they entered Sri Lankan airspace. It would take them 12 hours of flight time to get there, and they'd likely be fighting as soon as they arrived. Preparations were made to deploy as quickly as possible once they entered the requisite airspace.

*******

"Spectre wing is go for launch on your order commander." Ghost's voice came through the communications. The Chinese had managed to lock the entire island down in a matter of hours, anticipating the arrival of the HAWC's. They'd also stepped up their Ariel Defenses, believing that if they could shoot down the planes, they wouldn't have to deal with the MT's, which was a good move, but ultimately flawed, since this plan was concieved and prepared for weeks ago by the HAWC think tank. They outfitted one of the C-130's with the same radar cancelling skin the high mobility MT's were equipped with, making it virtually invisible to all that might be watching a computer screen.

"Copy Ghost, stand by to deploy, two minutes." There was a definate tension with the three pilots that were about to hotdrop into Sri Lankan airspace. Their primary objective was to disable the power grid for the entire island, effectively eliminating all lighting. From there, they were to move to the local airfield, which was under heavy guard, and wipe out all anti-aircraft installations, and pave the way for the remaining units to land.

Once they were over the drop zone, Mathison gave the go ahead. "Spectre Unit you are cleared for hotdrop, godspeed."

One by one they dropped out of the plane, instantly reaching breakneck speeds as they plummetted towards the earth. The idea here was that the units would wait to engage their fusion boosters until they were exactly 750 feet off the ground. This would slow their descent dramatically and allow them to land without damaging the MT's in the process. "Command this is Ghost, engaging fusion boosters in 10...9...8..."

Anchor was audibly nervous as he listened to the voice over the comm system count down. This was only theoretical, they'd never actually practiced this before. "Engaging boosters now.." the voice came back. He watched the indicators on his screen, seeing all three units engage their boosters as they hit the 750 mark, and subsequently slow to speeds that wouldn't kill them on impact. One by one, the all clears came across the com.

"Copy that Spectre Unit, move and eliminate the targets." Joe sat back and relaxed a little. Now that they were on the ground, there was little to worry about. It might take a little longer, given none of the current MT's carried anything that packed a decent whallop as far as firepower goes, but they still had enough fuel to circle for a few hours.

Many of the people still in the air were watching the island carefully as the planes circled it like hawks they were, waiting to descend on their unsuspecting prey. As they were all transfixed on it, the entire island went black. The Spectres had neutralized the power grid. Against the black backdrop of the island, fires could be seen, as well as the occasional explosion lighting up the island in a swath of destruction.

It took the Spectre Unit 50 minutes to neutralize the power, and get to the airfield, which was guarded by an array of tanks and light armor vehicles and personel carrying rocket launchers and RPG's. They were actually a lot more effective against the MT's than the HAWC's ever let on. Several machine guns were being jammed by random sharapnel that was getting lodged inside their barrels. But the light MT's still had many tricks up their sleeve, including one pilots personal favorite.

Mathison closed his eyes, and counted down. _3....2....1.... _"BURN BABY BURN" the familiar voice rang out across a wide array of frequencies. Back when the unit had been dispatched to reign in Canada, Ruthers had learned a unique trick that allowed her to clear out entire lines of infantry, jeeps, well, anything short of heavy armor in one fell swoop... and she'd subsequently taught that trick to her two buddies on the ground.

Like clockwork, Mathison looked outside, and saw a very familiar design on the landscape. Three red, burning lines, all side by side. This was referred to by the rest of the world as the claw of the hawk. Using their fusion boosters, the units would charge forward, jump up about 10 feet, and engage their boosters, allowing the forward movement of their run to carry them across the field. By engaging the boosters so close to the ground, there was a very, very gruesome side effect for anyone caught in the wake of destruction. Instant incineration. The boosters generated an incredible amount of heat, and being caught underneath it was no place anyone wanted to be.

Infantry and Jeeps were instantly incinerated, and anything else caught underneath it that had any electronics onboard whatsoever, including tanks, were instantly neutralized. Ruthers knew this, and this is why she loved her light MT so much. The Chinese Guard had apparently not studied the tapes of this maneuver, and it's consequences, as the entire line of tanks were turned into immobile, steel coffins. The Airfield was clear of hostiles, and would shortly be clear of anti-air weapons.

"HAWC's, prepare to land and take control of the airfield." One after the other, the C-130's landed on the base, and quickly unloaded their cargo, ammunition, and of course, the MT's that were waiting to join the fray. Once Mathison and the eight other pilots had offloaded, they immediately went to work, setting out for the Chinese Garrison on the island. "Spectre Unit, hold the airfield, you've done your job, get scratch repairs done, and move to patrol. Good work."

The remainder of the MT's set off, their ominus movement sounds echoing across the land to the Chinese that the liberation force was on it's way. The HAWC's avoided moving through any of the cities to avoid dragging civilians into any sort of engagement. The attacking force stopped about a mile away from the base, and Mathison sent out a wide frequency broadcast allowing the Chinese an opportunity to surrender. Only silence was returned.

"No go on the surrender people. Move out and level the base. At this point, we have clear indication that any Chinese presence on this island will be a gun aimed at the heads of the locals. Eliminate all targets of opportunity. Consider this an Erradication Notice." Mathison sank into his seat. _Even if they are the enemy, I don't like the idea of wiping them out, but there's no choice. If they remain here, then they will continue to cause problems. C`est la vie._

As soon as the HAWC's moved up the hillside, the entire Chinese Garrison erupted in a hailstorm of firepower that would make any General giddy with destructive glee. Howitzers, short range surface-to-surface missiles, heavy machine guns, and even flak cannons were brought to bear on the MT's. Thankfully, the cover of night gave them the concealment they needed to avoid the brunt of it. "All units, spread out for this, there's a lot of firepower in there, and while most of it poses little threat to us, no need to be brazen in our assault. Watch the friendly fire."

The unit fractured and moved off towards seperate portions of the base, bullets could be seen glancing off of the towering black structures, as if hitting a wall of indominable strength. The HAWC's opened fire at intermittent times, as to confuse the enemy and instil panic. The whole thing lasted a mere 10 minutes before the last signs of resistance were extinguised from the base as it lay in ruins.

"HAWC's, return to base and prepare deploy in full force."

*******

Sao Xi was on site for the trasferrance announcement to the Sri Lankan public. Cheers could be heard all over the island. The community was now entirely free of the Chinese Imperialism that had dominated their land for the longest time, and before that, the British. The celebrations included a large party, and a feast in honor of their liberators. Many of the mechanics and ground techs for the HAWC's were enjoying the company of the local women, while others were taking in the place they could now call home, and just making general idiots of themselves, getting familiar with the local drinks.

Xi took the time to personally thank Mathison after things had settled down. "You've done us a great service that we can never repay. We have our homeland back, and we are for the first time, free. Hopefully, this is a great sign of things to come in the future." She hesitated. "We're going to be redesigning the flag of the island. We would like to decorate it with a Hawk. Would there be any objections to that?"

Mathison, who'd had a few too many at this point, laughed. "It's your flag sweetie, do what you want with it. It'sh none of our business. Ash long ash you don't expect us to fight a war for you, we're golden."

Xi couldn't surpress a smile. "You're drunk."

"And you're increasingly attractive, not that you weren't before."

She raised an eyebrow. "Care to give me a tour of your facilities commander? I'd like to get familiar with the intimacy of it all, you know, it's inner workings."

Mathison took this as a completely neutral request. "Shure, Shure. We might have to wait until I get this shit out of my system though, I'd probably screw up the technical specifications of everything."

She stood and took his hand. "That's what I'm counting on."

Mathison wasn't seen again for two days.

The rebuilding of what was previously the Chinese Garrison took approximately a month to complete. The HAWC's had devastated the place, and had to invest a lot of time and manpower into salvaging it into a working base, but they had little choice, as there weren't any other suitible sites on the island. There was one bright side to the complete destruction of the base though, the HAWC technicians were able to completely redesign the area, and make it suitable for their needs, including a complete underground facility.

Nearly everyone on the island, it seemed, turned out for the ribbon cutting ceremony, and subsequent speeches that were made when the base was reopened. Sao Xi spoke first, reminding everyone that the HAWC's were not here to fight wars on their behalf, and they were not here as subjects of the island. They were here as an independant group of people that would protect the sovreignity of the island for as long as they remained. Mathison wasn't really paying much attention, as he was going over his address, which was likely to be broadcast to the entire world. He was shook out of his preparations by a large roar from the crowd and glanced up to see Xi motioning him to address the crowd.

Admittedly, he was a little nervous. Addressing military personel was something he'd grown accustomed to, civilians on the other hand... he had no idea how to deal with them. _Sink or swim._ "When the HAWC's decided to pursue interests elsewhere in the world, we had little idea of where we were going, or what we'd be doing. We only knew that the status quo where we were was no longer worth fighting for. Thanks to the people of this great nation, we now have a place where we can call home." Mathison paused for applause. "We have been called many things in our time. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, foolish idealists, and more specifically and technically, HAWC's. The hawk is a majestic bird. It flies high, it's great to look at, but it also has a very deadly side. Today, thanks to you fine people, we have come home. We have our nest. And we will fight to protect it, and the tree this nest resides in." Mathison looked over his notes. "Among other things, the military is famous for abbreviating complicated terms to make them easier to say in casual conversation. HAWC stands for Heavy Armor and Weapons Contingiant. We take this to mean we're the birds soaring high in the sky."

"The NEST however, represents a different set of ideals. Ideals that we stand for, we epitomize, and we project across the barrier to those that do not understand us. The Neutralist Establishment of Security and Technology will be availble to -any- nation in the world for a price that we will talk about later. The goal of this organization is to ensure that the countries that wish to employ us have the means to do so. The communications array for the Nest is already active, and is standing by to talk to anyone. Details will be worked out later, however, understand that, for now, we will not engage in offensive measures, only defensive." Mathison again, paused for applause.

"There are many out there that would tell us we're changing our views, or that we're disgracing ourselves by being willfully labled as mercenaries or guns for hire. To those, I say this. We have extreme operating expenses. Expenses that are insurmountable without a steady income. No movement is able to sustain itself without having a means to provide for its people. It is at this time that I announce the creation of the Hawk's Nest, a private security company." Cheers from the crowd again erupted.

The creation of this company is a milestone in history, one long forgotten, as it marks the rise of Corporacracy, as well as the return of a highly trained, highly compentent mercenary army, available to any nation willing to pay the bill. The entire makeup of the world is about to change, in a way that would lead to it's rise, it's fall, and rebirth. Those however, are different stories.


End file.
